1968 Saab 96 V4

Jean-Claude Rouffet, Saab 96 V4, Montée Historique de Beaune-Saint Romain

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Beaune-Saint Romain, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2016 Montée Historique de Beaune Saint Romain, click on he link above.

Saab, Trollhätten, Sweden.  The Saab 96 was a four seater two door saloon car produced for nearly twenty years between 1960 and 1980.  Initially it had a three cylinder two stroke 850cc Saab engine but in 1967 the 1,500cc Ford Taunus V4 option was offered as well. The V4 was later enlarged to 1,700cc.   The 2 stroke was discontinued in 1968. The body was functional and aerodynamic.  From 1965 the cars featured a longer nose as seen above.  The Saab 96 was a very successful rally car, due to its front wheel drive and reliability, particularly in the hands of Erik Carlsson who won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1962 and 1963 and the RAC Rally in 1960, 61 and 62.   He also won the San Remo, Acropolis and Czech rallies in a Saab 96.  The V4 achieved success by winning the Swedish Rally in 1973 driven Stig Blomqvist and in 1976 driven by Per Eklund.

MGB Roadster

Modified MGB Roadster, Montée Historique Beaune St Romain, 2016

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Beaune St Romain, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the classic car event retracing the old St Romain hillclimb, click on the link above.

MG, Abingdon, England.  The MGB was a long lived sports car produced from 1962 to 1980.  The 2 seater convertible roadster was the first of the MGB models and was followed by the hatchback coupé the MGB GT.  The MGB was more powerful than the MG Midget and had the 1,800cc straight 4 BMC B series engine.   The MGC which followed had a 3 litre engine and can be distinguished by the bonnet bulge.  MGBs were successful in motor sport events both on the circuits of the world and in rallies.  The MGB Roadsters normally ran with hardtops in these events.  Hopkirk and Hedges finished 11th overall and second in their class in the 1965 Le Mans 24 hours.  Makinen and Rhodes fished 9th overall and won their class in the 1966 Targa Florio.

1950 Simca Gordini 1200

Simca Gordini, Montée Historique d'Epieds 2016

More photos of the Montee Historique d'Epieds coming soon.

Simca-Gordini, France. I think this has a motor and other components from a Simca 8 and it has Gordini on the grill  but it is unlike any other Simca-Gordini I have ever seen so I assume it is either a special or has been much modified (I am happy to be corrected).  It has turned up at a lot of events but I don't know its history.  Amédée Gordini, nicknamed Le Sorcier,  was a famous tuner and builder of racing cars who providing sporting interest to the Simca and Renault marques. Shortly after the war he built cars based on Simca-Fiat parts and in 1950 he made F1 and F2 single seaters and Le Mans sports cars based on Simcas but the relationshiop was to finish at the end of the 1951 season.

Healey Silverstone

Healey Silverstones at Chanteloup-les-Vignes in 2014

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Chanteloup-les-Vignes, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of a re-run on one of the World's most oldest hillclimb venues, click on the link above.

Donald Healey Motor Co, Warwick, England.  Over 100 of these two seater open sports cars were built in 1949 and 1950 for racing, road use or both.  It had a 2.5 litre 4 cyl Riley engine and a lightweight body.  Top speed was around 110mph and acceleration from 0-60mph at around 11 seconds.  It was successful in racing and rallies driven by Donald Healey and others. The Healey Silverstone won its class and came second overall first time out in the Alpine Rally in 1949 driven by Donald Healey and Ian Appleyard.  It also won its class on the Liege-Rome-Liege rally in 1951.

1974 Fiat Abarth X1/9 Prototipo

Didier Marcacci, Fiat Abarth X1/9 Prototipo, Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain, 2016

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the Historic re-run of the Beaune-St Romain Hillclimb in 2016, click on the link above.

Fiat Abarth, Turin, Italy. Abarth was a specialist sports car maker founded by Carlo Abarth that was sold to Fiat in 1971.  Amongst other things, Abarth prepared Fiat's rally cars.  The Fiat Abarth X1/9 Prototipo was intended as a replacement rally car to the Fiat Abarth 124.  It was powered by a 1.8 litre engine derived from the 124  and was introduced in 1973.  About 5 genuine cars were produced and there are also a number of replicas.  The rally history was mainly in Italian National events.  It did win the Alpi Orientali and the Coppa Trabucchi rallies in 1974.  Its most famous driver was Clay Regazzoni who drove one in the 1974 Giro d'Italia but retired. Due to Fiat politics and other projects such as the 131 rally car the Fiat Abarth X1/9 project was not pursued after 1974.

DB Panhard Monomill 850

DB Panhard Monomill 850, Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain 2016

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the Beane-St Romain Hillclimb re-creation in 2016, click on the link above.

Automobiles DB, Champigny sur Marnes, France.  Charles Deutsch and René Bonnet formed Automobiles DB in the late 40s.  They mainly used engine and suspension parts from Panhard cars.  After achieving some success with sports cars at Le Mans in the early fifties they produced some F3, F2 and F1 single seater cars using Panhard components.  They were front engined and front wheel drive.  They used 500cc, 750cc and 850cc engines.  Some were supercharged.  The cars were very light and had some wins but couldn't compete with the best competition of the time.  In 1954 a French Championship for DB Panhard Monomill 850s was held.  The first race was held at Montlhery in April 1954 for drivers such as Pierre Levegh, Harry Schell and Alphonse de Portago.   The race was won by a young Jo Schlesser and the series by Paul Armagnac (who had the Nogaro circuit named after him).  In 1955 the cars were sold to a new racing school at Montlhery.

1964 Volvo PV544

1964 Volvo PV544, Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain 2016

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2016 Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain, click on the link above.

Volvo, Gothenburg, Sweden.  The PV544 was an evolution of the PV444 and was produced from 1958 to 1966. It was a two door small economical four seater saloon.  The PV544 had a successful rallying career.  Perhaps, the most famous was the Singh brothers' victory in the 1965 Safari Rally.  However, Gunnar Andersson and Gunnar Trana had already won numerous other rallies before this including the Rally of Sweden,  the Acropolis Rally, the RAC rally and the 1,000 lakes Rally.  Both won the European Rally Championship in a Volvo.  The car was also used with some success in circuit racing.

There is a nice video on You Tube of the Volvo's ascent of Beaune-St Romain.  Click on the link below:

1968 Sunbeam Stiletto

Bruno Illanoi, 1968 Sunbeam Stiletto, Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain 2016.

Pour plus photos de la Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the first Montée Historique (untimed hillclimb) at St Romain in Burgundy, click on the link above.

Rootes, Linwood, Scotland.   The Stiletto was the better looking fastback coupé version of the Imp with the uprated sport engine and four headlamps .  It was produced from 1967 to 1972. The orginal version of the Stiletto had a top speed of about 90mph and apparently was no more aerodynamically efficient than the Imp despite its appearance.  Nearly 9,000 Stilettos were made.  I note the one in the photo has the 998cc engine which was a fairly common replacement from the Rallye version of the Imp.I certainly remember special saloon versions of the Stiletto in British club racing.  They also took part in many other forms of racing and rallying but had no really famous successes.

Sunbeam Imp

Sunbeam Imp, Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain 2016.

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the first Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain, click on the link above.

Rootes Group, Linwood Scotland.   The Hillman Imp and its badge engineered derivatives such as the Sunbeam Imp were Rootes' competitor to the Mini from 1963 to 1976.  Unlike the Mini it had a rear engine with the engine being based on an aluminium 875cc Coventry Climax unit.  The cars were built at the Rootes' Linwood plant near Glasgow in Scotland.  Badge variations included Hillman, Sunbeam and Singer.  There was even a Commer van version.   In France I believe the Sunbeam name was used exclusively for the Imp.  The Imps had successful Motor Racing careers with Bill McGovern winning the British Saloon car championship in a George Bevan prepared Sunbeam Imp from 1970 to 1972.  Rosemary Smith won the 1965 Tulip Rally in a Hillman Imo.

Click here to read about the amazing Zimp.

1972 Popot FR2

1972 Popot FR2 entrainait par son createur Jean-René Popot á la Montée Hitorique du Guichet 2015.

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Guichet, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the Classic Racing Car event in Chateaudun, La Montée Historique du Guichet, follow the link above.

Popot, France.  Constructeur des trois automobiles de course monoplaces.

Mon astuce pour faire des belles photos
Ne pas oublier de prendre des notes sur toutes les voitures intéressantes.

Top photo tips.
Make notes as you take photos or take extra photos of any available information so as not to forget what any rare or interesting cars are. Ask questions of their owners where possible.   There is nothing worth than an interesting photo where you can't identify the car.

Simca -Fiat 5 Berlinette le Mans

Simca-Fiat Berlinette Le Mans - Chanteloup les Vignes 2014

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Chanteloup les Vignes 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the Chanteloup les Vignes Hillclimb, follow the link above.

Simca, Nanterre, France.

Mon astuce pour faire des belles photos.
Composition est tout. Ne pas se concentrer uniquement sur la voiture.

Top photo tip.
Composition is everything.  Don't just concentrate on the car.

Volkswagen Beetle

VW Beetle à Chanteloup les Vignes pour la montée historique 2014

Pour plus des photos de la Montée Historique de Chanteloup les Vignes 2014, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2014 celebration of the world's first hillclimb at Chanteloup les Vignes, follow the link above.

Mon astuce pour faire de belles photos.
Utilisez la composition et le flou à suggérer le mouvement.

Top photo tips.
Use composition and blurring to suggest movement.

Hispano Suiza

Hispano Suiza à Chanteloup-les-Vignes pour La Montée Historique 2014

C'est à Chanteloup-les-Vignes en 1898 que ce déroula la première course de côte du monde.  Ceci est une Hispano Suiza des années Vingt.

Chanteloup-les-Vignes hosted the world's first ever hillclimb held as a separate event in 1898.  This is a nineteen twenties Hispano Suiza.

Hispano Suiza, Bercelona Spain & Paris France.

Pour plus de photos de la Montée Historique de Chantloup-les-Vignes, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of Chanteloup-les-Vignes follow the link above.

Mon astuce pour faire de belles photos.
Les personnages comme celui-ci avec sa moustache et béret rouge contribuent à réussir la photo.

Top photo tip.
Look out for characters like this one with his moustache and red beret.  They help make the photo.